2023 Podcasts

Native American Mental Health and the IHS: An Interview with David Edward Walker

Zimmerman, Anne

David Edward Walker holds a PhD in psychology and has had years of experience in the US Indian Health Service as a licensed psychologist. He shares insights he developed while serving the Yakama Nation community. Specifically, the conversation covers his experiences as well as the way oppression and marginalization are reframed as issues of mental health. His book, Coyote’s Swing: A Memoir and Critique of Mental Hygiene in Native America, chronicles his experiences of cultural immersion in the Yakama Nation and provides a strong critique of the mental hygiene paradigm.